There is probably no photographer as passionately committed to working with the Leica camera as Ilse Bing was. Starting in 1929, this miniature camera was her constant companion and remained such for over two decades: ‟I felt that the camera grew into an extension of my eyes and moved with me“. With the help of close-ups, the extensive use of daring perspectives, unconventional cropping, and geometric and detailed perspectives; the motifs are isolated and almost alienated from their original context. She also discovered a type of solarisation for negatives independently of a similar process developed by the artist Man Ray. Ilse Bing was born in 1899 in Frankfurt / Main, Germany. In 1930, she moved to Paris where she lived until 1941, but in the shadow of World War II, she and her husband immigrated to New York City.
Bing’s extraordinary technique and the quality of her photographs caught the art world’s attention in the beginning of the 1930s. Especially in Europe, in the USA, and in Japan she earned an excellent reputation as a photojournalist and fashion photographer. In 1936, her work was included in the first modern photography exhibition held at the Louvre and in 1937, she travelled to New York where her images were included in the landmark exhibition "Photography 1839 - 1937" at the Museum of Modern Art. In the 1970s, her work was rediscovered and since then has been exhibited several times. Today, her pieces are presented in the collections of many important museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Exhibitions
Publications
Biography
Begin of studies in mathematics and physics at University of Frankfurt, followed by a shift to the studies of art history.
Begin of a doctorate on the classicist German architect Friedrich Gilly (1772 - 1808).
Exhibitions
Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid, Spain
F11 Foto Museum, Hong Kong
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, USA
Lee Gallery, Winchester, VA, USA
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Lee Gallery, Winchester, VA; Boston, MA, USA
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, USA
Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen, Germany
Galerie Zur Stockeregg, Zurich, Switzerland
Houk Friedman, New York, USA
Houk Friedman, New York, USA
Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium
Olympus Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
Edwynn Houk Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Galerie Friedrich, Cologne, Germany
Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France; Alliance Française, New York, USA; Lichtbild - Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
Galerie Rena Bransten, San Francisco, CA, USA
Zabriskie Gallery, New York, USA
La Galerie des Femmes, Paris, France
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA, USA; International Center of Photography, New York, USA; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA, USA
The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC, USA
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, USA
La Galerie des Femmes, Paris, France
Simon Lowinsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Galerie Zabriskie, Paris, France
Simon Lowinsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Heusenstamm Stiftung, Frankfurt, Germany
Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chigago, IL, USA
Council of Art, Las Vegas, NV, USA
The Witkin Gallery, Inc., New York, USA
Designer’s Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Bennet College, Milbrook, New York, USA
New York Public Library, New York, USA
Junior League Gallery, St. Louis, MO, USA
The American Institute of Architects, Washington, DC, USA
New York Public Library, New York, USA
Galerie-Libraire Palmes, Paris, France
Carroll-Knight Gallery, St. Louis, MO, USA
The Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Galerie de l’Arc-en Ciel, Paris, France
June Rhodes Gallery, New York, USA
American Library, Paris, France
Galerie Trittler, Frankfurt, Germany
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY, USA
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
Galerie Lichtblick, Cologne
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Kunsthandel Jörg Maaß, Berlin, Germany
Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, Tennessee; International Centre of Photography, New York; Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, USA
Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
Robert Mann Gallery, New York, USA
National Gallery, Washington, DC, USA
NRW Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft, Düsseldorf, Germany
La Botanique, Centre culturel de la Communauté Wallonie-Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Kamera- und Fotomuseum, Leipzig, Germany
New York Public Library, New York, USA
Historisches Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Historisches Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; Jewish Museum, New York, USA; Fotomuseum, Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; Jewish Museum, New York, USA; Fotomuseum, Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Werkbund-Achiv, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany; Regionalgeschichtliches Museum, Saarbrücken, Germany
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Simon Lowinsky Gallery, New York, USA
Werkbund-Achiv, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany; Regionalgeschichtliches Museum, Saarbrücken, Germany
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; Fotografiska Museum, Helsinki, Norway
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA
Muée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, France; Musée Reattu, Arles, France; Musée de Carcassonne, France
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA
Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, France; Musée Reattu, Arles, France; Musée de Carcassonne, France
Fotokina, Cologne, Germany
Fotokina, Cologne, Germany
Stadtmuseum München, Munich, Germany
Musée cantonnal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland
The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA
The Dog Museum of America, New York, USA
Teatro Municipale, Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy
Galerie Zabriskie, Paris, France
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Sander Gallery, Washington, DC, USA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA
The Witkin Gallery, New York, USA
(Joint exhibition of the city of Venice and UNESCO), Venice, Italy
The Witkin Gallery, Inc., New York, USA
Zabriskie Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Zabriskie, Paris, USA
The Witkin Gallery, Inc., New York, USA
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
The New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA, USA
The International Center for Photography, New York, USA
Galerie Zabeiskie, Paris, France
The Witkin Galery, Inc., New York, USA
The Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Center for Photography, New York; Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH; The Lakeview Academy of Arts and Sciences, Peoria, IL; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA
Bennett College, Millbrook, New York, USA
New York Public Library, New York, USA
Wildenstein Gallery, New York, USA
Kunstindustri Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
La Pléiade, Paris, France
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, France
La Pléiade, Paris, France
La Société française de photographie et de cinématographie, Paris, France
La Pléiade, Paris, France
La Société française de photographie et de cinématographie
Maison Tiranty, Paris, France
Pennsylvania Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Galerie d’Art contemporain, Paris, France
La Pléiade, Paris, France
The Julien Levy Gallery, Inc., New York, USA
The Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Allemagne
La Société française de photographie et de cinématographie et le Photo Club
La Pléiade, Paris, France
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA